kancollefandomcom-20200213-history
User blog:Tadano Hitoshi/Ragtag Hustle Kancolle - Fall 2015 Event Edition
A Season for Settling Old Grudges, Rekindling Friendships and New Encounters (Note: Summary of my Fall 2015 Event experience. E1 Hard, E2 Hard, then fall back to Easy in E3 till the end. As well as the farming runs for the new ships. That is all.) -- The Blitzkrieg of A Certain Hashirajima Anchorage's Admiral Admiral: "New season, and oh well, new month for operations. Ooyodo, how's the evaluation of the intel going?" Ooyodo: "Sir. Here's what has been gathered so far." (hands over to the Admiral some documents) Admiral (reading through it): "... Hmm. Hmm hmm. Okay. So... well, are there anything more? The information seems to be gathered at a very fast pace, I don't know if it's the usual veterans at work or there are more new officers who joined them in battle." Ooyodo: "Sir, for your information, you're called to join their forces as well." (beat) Admiral: "... Wait, what." Ooyodo: "Or to be precise, we're invited." Admiral: "No, no. Wait. I don't get it. How did we even get 'invited' in the first place...?" Ooyodo: "Admiral, you reported in for your post somewhere before the Summer operations started, didn't you?" Admiral: "Uh huh?" Ooyodo: "Did you remember how far did we push into the operations?" Admiral: "We went deep into enemy territory but had to concede defeat due to fuel shortage, didn't we...?" Ooyodo: "Exactly. But did you know how much damage we caused? The reports say we were on the edge of winning. It's also thanks to our actions the Abyssal's advanced armor system got broken beyond repair. Intel seems to report that the Abyssals have reformed their armor system, but it seems it'll be easier to break through this time, they aren't as powerful as they used to be back in Summer anymore." Admiral: "... Seriously? But damn was that thing super annoying." Ooyodo: "We're being watched, Admiral. I mean, a lot of our senior officials have been observing our progress. One of them wanted you to be in the front line." Admiral: "Argh. Frontlining isn't really my thing. I don't have a good record at it and I don't keep my logbook as updated as it should." Ooyodo: "Well, probably this season will be the season for a lot of new things, Admiral. ... Hold on, you have an incoming call from one of the Admirals I mentioned. I'll connect him to you shortly." Admiral: "... Really now?" -- (Note: I'm using the term 'Marshal of the Fleet' because I don't feel like making redundant titling such as an Admiral in the same table with an Admiral of the Fleet, the actual valid term. Basically I don't want to see the word 'Admiral' twice. Just my kinda thing. I know it's incorrect, so if there's an alternative than having to use "Admiral" and "Admiral of the Fleet" exclusively, please tell me. These two characters, the Admiral and the Marshal, I would imagine the in-game ranks to be 大将 and 元帥 respectively.) Marshal of the Fleet: "Admiral Tadano Hitoshi, I take it?" Admiral: "Sir." Marshal of the Fleet: "Excuse me for the intrusion. Right when you're preparing your fleet for your part of the operation at that." Admiral: "Pay it no mind, sir. I reckon I have plenty of time to prepare before I can begin." Marshal of the Fleet: "Hahah! Well, let's get the mood a little bit relaxed for a bit. And I'm going to come down on it straight because I want your quick reply. Admiral, join our first strike force. We're basically going to blitzkrieg our way through the operations and dig some valuable intel for the rest of the officers to see themselves through the operation. A reconnaissance operation, but on a very large scale. You know tsunamis? They are big and strike down hard and subside very fast." Admiral: "... For what reason do I deserve that kind of chance, if I may ask?" Marshal of the Fleet: "Well, no particular reason really. It's just that we just happened to see how much progress you've made since that day." Admiral: " 'That day' ?" Marshal of the Fleet: "Remember the final days of the Summer operations? You were just assigned to your post for a month. I didn't think you would follow us that far for the clean-up. Even though you were lagging behind you did pretty well, with you and your fleet holding your own against these fearsome abyssals acting as the vanguard. We did have a hard time cracking through that armor. But your effort made it possible for us to smash right through it. It was after the operation that we discovered their system's weaknesses. If it wasn't for you and some other Admirals who broke through the armor with pure brute force, we might see them putting up the same system again in preparation of their counter-operations against us." Admiral: "... Sir, I have done nothing. I didn't accomplish anything praiseworthy, I just carried out my role as I had intended to. Yet failed at the end. My own recklessness almost caused my fleet into a string of defeats. Needless to say, I can't do that." Marshal of the Fleet: "But look at the girls under your care now." Admiral: "Sir, even after I took a good look at them, I don't think I have what it takes to deserve the honor of sailing with your strike force." Marshal of the Fleet: "Now aren't you being a bit disrespectful to the shipgirls who brought to you a lot of experience on that day?" Admiral: "N-no..." Marshal of the Fleet: "... So, what do you have in mind then?" Admiral: "A compromise, if I may ask, sir?" Marshal of the Fleet: "Very well. Say it." Admiral: "Please, let us fall back halfway through, if I deem it gets a bit too dangerous for us. Like the last Summer operations we do intend to see ourselves through with our mission this time, however, so we will press on with our attack once we're ready to come up next after your strike force." Marshal of the Fleet: "Haha! Well said. It isn't like I'm forcing you to join us or anything. I just believe you could join us with what you had raised. Don't worry, you can fall back if you decide it is too dangerous for you to move on along with us. Oh well, it's time for me to get prepared on my part. Fair winds and following seas, young man." Admiral: "Thank you for the consideration." -- Wednesday 18th November, "Transport Operation! Sweep Up The Front!" - Shortlands Anchorage In the front lines. Kongou: "ALL GUNS! FIREEEE!!!!" Chitose: "All attack teams! Launch now!" In the back lines. Or rather at a range away from the first fleet currently in combat where the only visible thing from their location is a mushroom cloud and a somewhat loud yell of "ALL GUNS! FIREEEE!!!!" Naka: [ standing on a barge and using a PA system to sing Koi no 2-4-11 ] Fubuki and Akatsuki: (following Naka's singing enthusiastically) Admiral (sighing): "I thought we are in the first strike force... Is this really all right?" Kiso: "Well, as you can see..." Flashback to several minutes before the operation started. Kongou: "Leave the battle to us, the First Fleet''-DESU~~''!!! We will be the Great Wall that won't let any small fry through! Admiral, believe in me!" Hiei: "Yes! I am with Onee-sama's decision! Admiral, you don't need to worry!" Admiral: "... I know this is the first time I seriously let everyone here to become part of a major operation, let alone sailing with the first strike force... but... aren't you being a bit too overconfident about this...?" Kongou: "Fear nothing, Admiral! It's called being positive! Hiei, let's go!" Hiei: "Yes, Onee-sama! Nobody shall stand before us and get past us!" Admiral: "..." (shakes his head). Chitose: "Well, we're here to do what we needed to do, after all. Let everyone do their best. We'll do our best too so don't worry. ... It's kind of funny that we of all people are going to have way more involvement than the famed First and Second Carrier Division you've invested quite some time to train before this operation." Admiral: "Rather than them, I'm thinking that some other people may have more involvement in this operation... it's the younger ones. I mean, the destroyers and cruisers." Chitose: "Was that a gut feeling?" Admiral: "It's a gut feeling that comes from a lot of the other Admirals' gut feelings." Chitose (giggles): "Heh, that's strange." Chiyoda: "Really now, Admiral." Admiral: "Whatever. Go now, both of you. And help Kongou make sure she keeps her word. Of not letting anyone get here." Chitose: "Roger that ♪” Back to present time. Kiso: "... and here we are." Choukai: "Hmm, it's my first time in a major operation but I'm doing nothing except stand here and... yet I'm learning a lot. Commander''-san'', this is like a field trip isn't it? Aren't we in combat right now?" Ashigara: "Hey, Admiral? Why am I not in the main fleet!? I could've fought them as much as I'd liked! But now that I'm part of the second fleet I don't feel like I'm being useful by not contributing to the combat. Can I join the first fleet? Please!? I know Myoukou nee-san and Haguro is there as well but I'd love to help them!" Admiral: (sighs heavily) And with thus, no enemy managed to break through the wall of the boisterous Kongou-class battleships along with a thick curtain of airstrikes raining upon them. Admiral: (At times like this I wish fuel is an inexhaustible supply so that I can do this way more often...) Thursday 19th November, "Charge! Maritime Transport Operation!" - The Battle of Cornehaikara Admiral: "I had to admit, I kind of picked our team for the first strike force rather haphazardly. Fubuki and Akatsuki especially. I would've wanted for them to spend more time training, but eh. I guess in a way they did get experience by baptism of fire on their part." Ashigara: (pouting) Admiral: "... And... uuuhhh... yeah. Ashigara, are you still disappointed you did not get to fire your cannons even once?" Ashigara: "No I am not."'' (pouting)'' Admiral: "Your words and actions don't seem to match." Ashigara: "W-well. The operation's over anyways so it's no use to be brooding over it, right." (still pouting) Admiral: "Haah... All right, by the way, I just managed to finish purchases for an expansion for the office." Ashigara: "Expansion...?" Admiral: "This. Behold, for it is something I requested not for me, but for you girls in mind." Admiral: "I don't drink, but since I don't intend to force that policy to this naval base, I have prepared our naval base to also include an Anchorage Counter Bar for those of you who would love getting your much-needed downtime here." Ashigara: "T-this is...!! Admiral, did you really just...!" Admiral: "Well, I have been saving up quite a bit, and before I knew it I realized I am able to finally afford this much." Ashigara: "This looks great! Nachi''-neesan'' will like this!" Chitose: "Well, this is quite grand." Admiral: "Good thing I've been saving up." Junyou (peeking through the door): "Hey, what's up lad-- OH HOLY COW. We finally have a pub in this base now!?" Admiral: "... What do you mean 'finally?'" Junyou: "Well, I've been itching to get some drinks but just going in and out of the base to buy beer just isn't doing it for me." Admiral: "I don't know if I want to be surprised you can avoid having a beer belly and maintain that figure." Junyou: "Hey! That's rude, you know. You could've just said that last one instead of saying out all of them. I'm a lady too y'know~" Admiral: "If I have something else to say, that attitude of yours is also part of your charm, if I may say so." Junyou: "... eh?" (beat) Junyou: "Aaah~ I'm beat! Is that a pick up attempt, Admiral?" Admiral: "Well, what if I'm trying to be serious right there?" Junyou: "I don't know, I might go dokidoki~~ Ahaha, just kidding. Well, knowing you, Admiral, you're like our only oasis around here. Putting our naval base in reversal would be akin to putting a girl of your stature heading a naval base filled with buff guys. Of course there'd be that kind of chaos around here. ... Seriously, Admiral, you're sure you're not interested in anyone yet?" Admiral: "May I pull my rank on you and say that's private and confidential?" Junyou: "Tch... Well, fine then. By the way the pub doesn't seem to be open yet, though." Admiral: "Yes. That will have to wait until after our next strategy meeting for the next operation." -- Admiral: "... And that's it. Jintsuu, you will be spearheading our task force this time. Don't worry, since we have our own plannings for this operation, naturally I assigned the best team members we could give you." Jintsuu: "...." Admiral: "You seem to be having doubts." Jintsuu: "Ah! N-no... I was just..." Admiral: "Were you looking at that one piece of intel we got from headquarters?" Jintsuu: "!!! .. Ah... yes." Admiral: "So you know what awaits you as the enemy's vanguard. The flagship of their task force. That's fine, that's why I selected you for the task force." Jintsuu: "A-are you really all right with me as the flagship... Admiral?" Admiral: "Jintsuu. Take a good look of yourself in the mirror. What you see is the you standing right in front of the mirror. You are no abomination, you're no god-forsaken child of the devil, you're not the Abyss. She's a shadow of your old self. The you right before me, and before that mirror is the new you. This is an encounter for you to come to terms with your past, acknowledge the darkness within you but re-emerge in a newer light which shines even brighter than before." Sendai: "The Admiral sure can get poetic on pep talks." Admiral: "Oh, for goodness's sake, Sendai. Use the door, not the ceiling." Sendai: "Heh heh. Me one, Admiral zero this time. All right, serious mode now. Jintsuu, go for it." Jintsuu: "Nee-san..." Sendai: "Jintsuu, the younger sister I know is the younger sister standing right here before me and the Admiral. That's why I have good faith in you. You're my younger sister, after all!" Jintsuu: "Nee-san!" Naka (popping out from nowhere): "Yeah! Jintsuu''-chan fight-o''! It's time to shine like a star on stage!" Jintsuu: "... Shine... like a star... on stage...?" And a look of "Eureka!" became the last known facial expression of Jintsuu's after that night. Fast forward to the operation, happening in real time before the Admiral. Jintsuu: "MY LIGHTS SHINE BRIGHTER THAN YOURS!!" An epic showdown of blindingly epic proportions takes its place right there. It became a battle of whose searchlights shine better than the other. Admiral: "I guess..." (wears a pair of sunglasses) "... they are really in the spotlights now." And the legend known to the Abyssals as the "Anti-Abyssal Light Cruiser Princess" is born on that very day. Needless to say, thanks to Sendai's, Naka's and the Admiral's pep talk before the operation, Jintsuu gets herself a ton of level ups in confidence, boldness, audacity, and courage. And the Admiral now has one more personnel in the list with the notes "AVOID GETTING YASEN'D" in his tiny notebook. -- Thursday 19th November, "Weigh Anchor! Maritime Transport Fleet" - Cornehaikara Eastern Islands (Note: Regarding chapter title - Is that how I am supposed to read コロネハイカラ島東方沖?) Ooyodo: "And so for the operation this time around, we will be utilizing a new Combined Fleet formation - specializing in transport. Admiral, what are your plans for this operation? Are you still planning to stick with the first strike force?" Admiral: "No. This time we're falling back for a bit. I'm not hearing good news regarding who's waiting at the other end, and they're choosing to use their best forces to overwhelm our transport operations while we get to field only a number of our combat-capable personnel against them - all of which aren't any more powerful than a cruiser. Let the first strike force cripple them for a bit, and we'll do what we do best - clean them up." -- D-Day - Operation Commence. Admiral: (Whew. I am still glad they're still well-trained enough for this operation. I'm a bit wary about using those who haven't received their best upgrades for this kind of operations, but I guess with the best of my attackers covering for them, I can res--) The fleet meets the force waiting to counter them. Seaplane Tender Princess: "It's fine, you know...? How about coming over to--" Admiral (quickly assumes his 'brash, trash-talking the enemy attitude' stance): "Oh, piss off. It's you again." Seaplane Tender Princess: "Oh, how mean~ At least let me greet you properly this time." Admiral: "Whatever. Even if you do land yourself a few good hits here, at least two of them here have dealt with you back in Summer. We'll just make you stay down, again, again and again. Let's do this, everyone!" Yuudachi: "Poi!" Shigure: "Let's go." Seaplane Tender Princess: "Oh no you're not goi--nononoNONONONONO GYAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!!" And once again, Seaplane Tender Princess finds herself being stuffed in a certain place with a number of torpedoes. Tone: "TAKE THAT, YE BLASTED KNAVE! ARGH, MY PLANES, MY PLANES!!!" Admiral: "Oh, great. Girls, take care of the other one too." Along with Seaplane Tender Princess, a lone Light Cruiser Tsu-class soon finds itself the next target of the shipgirls' wrath. Especially Tone, even though her fleet are not taking any actions for night time fighting. -- Thursday, 19th November - "The Western Line! Send the Carrier Task Force!" - Western Sea Area Front, the Stevia Sea Admiral: "Haven't we seen this location before? Or is it just the layout that looks similar?" Ooyodo: "I am of the opinion it's the latter, Admiral. Well then. What's your strategy this time around?" Admiral: "Yeah... 'Send a carrier fleet' my arse. Might as well we do this instead... Everyone, we're going with a Surface Task Force." Ooyodo: "Admiral!?" Admiral: "From intel, there are submarines lurking in the area. Waiting for the right time to creep up on our carriers. Even though there are also enemy carriers in the area, the good thing is that this time we have more experience dealing with them, all thanks to Summer. And we have Maya as our... ace in the hole. What's your current condition, Maya?" Maya: "Yeah! I'm hella ready, you bet. Just show me where to go and I'll just make their bombers falling from the skies left and right!" Admiral: "Okay, I guess that means your condition is all green... Moving on, to top it all off with the submarines waiting for us en route... see this intel?" Isuzu: "Is that what I needed to see? Admiral?" Admiral: "Yes. The new Princess-type Abyssal that waits to ambush us along with her surface escorts... and she waits for us beneath the surface." Isuzu: "So a submarine then. Well that explains why I'm wanted here. No problem, just load me up with the sonars and depth charges." Admiral: "Good. Let's go then." -- D-Day, Operation Commence. Battleship Princess: "Fu-fu~n~ Only a few months just passed by and we're going to meet that boy again~~" Submarine Princess: "You look awfully happy talking about this guy... and with such a tone... I hope you can deal with him while I go after my prey..." Battleship Princess: "Oh, you'll learn to love him like Air Defense Princess did~~" Submarine Princess: "Nonsense... That girl... she was so cocky... now she's nothing more than a traumatized wreck..." Battleship Princess: "Oh? She's just lovesick~~" Submarine Princess: "I don't know how that registered in your dictionary... as 'lovesick'... Wait, I'm picking up something in my sonar... is that him...?" Battleship Princess: "Yes! I'm seeing him in my radar too~! Yay~" And the Admiral and his fleet arrives to their location. Admiral: "You again? Seriously? Are you going to try taking my shirt off this time? Last time was my pants, right?" Battleship Princess: "Welcome~~ Oh, you don't need to be so curt... let's have some fun times toge--" Admiral: "Ain't no time for that. Ladies, commence ASW." (Note: On the day I did my E4 runs, both of my first and second fleet are all ASW-equipped to a certain extent and so I made them attack the submarines first and ignore BB Hime/Wo Kai until they're done with the Sub Princess. Not a good strategy, but just enough luck + brute power + BB Hime/Wo Kai somehow missing most of the time kinda helped here I guess. Of course I switched with an even more split-tasked fleet set-ups after I cleared the event for Graf Zeppelin farming) Battleship Princess: "Eh?" Beneath the surface. Submarine Princess: "It hurts... IT HURTS!!!! MAKE IT STOPPP!!!!" Admiral (staring below the surface of the water with a cold expression): "For all your incessant yapping of 'prey' this, 'prey' that... We are the hunter here damn it. Now stay down there and sink deeper, and be no more!" Battleship Princess (shivering): (... This boy is so interesting~!!!) At that moment, seeing this side of the Admiral awakened something new within Battleship Princess. Unfortunately for the Submarine Princess, this is not the last she will see of the Admiral's forces attacking her... -- Friday, 20th November - "Final Stage - Overcome! The Night Battle of Vanilla Gulf!" - Vanilla Gulf Ooyodo: "In just two days, even though we're back for the clean-up jobs, we sure progressed fast." Admiral: "No time for nothing. I have some piece of intel we need to review after we're done with this... Even though we need to carry out transport operations before we get to the core of the Abyssal forces surrounding the area, we still need our personnel heading out there to be in fighting form for that very reason. Just something that makes me wonder..." Ooyodo: "Is it the PT Imps?" Admiral: "Yes. So far intel hasn't had any good news about them. They're very hard to kill for some reason, even though destroyers could and should've made short work of them, something about them is kind of shielding them from the destroyers. It's absurd they can almost shrug off attacks that would have decimated the strongest enemy flagships." Ooyodo: "Do you suppose you have a solution against them, then?" Admiral: "Logically, back in the war, one of the reasons destroyers exist is to ward off threats from torpedo boats, and these PT Imps seem to embody that kind of vessels. Larger vessels, especially battleships, have to use their secondary batteries to deal with them because the common tactic of PT engagements is by coming close to the vessel they are attacking and launch torpedoes when in range, and usually those ranges are not something like a battleship's main battery can deal with - plus they are too small for the guns to take aim, not to mention those boats move fast and are very agile. Capital ships that lurk very close to the shore areas are often at risk of attacks made by these." Ooyodo: "That still doesn't explain why our destroyers cannot hit them though..." Admiral: "Which is why I'm a bit bummed about that. One of the tactics we're employing here is to deny them any moving space to get close enough to our formation. If we can't hit them before they hit us, deny them the chance to even use the torpedoes. And one more thing..." Ooyodo: "Oh? Is there anything else?" Admiral: "Airstrikes. Air support." Ooyodo: '''"Now that you mention it... we never really used them before, did we?" '''Admiral: "No. I was in contact with one of the veterans who have finished their raid over enemy territory. They say supporting airstrikes can help deal with these boats, but I still doubt why do we even need one... Nevertheless, we need every edge we can get. Also, from the new intel I got from the veterans we seem to be heading for a very interesting tale of reunions... I'm going to call for a mission briefing." Ooyodo: "That last part sounds somewhat strange... Nevertheless, who am I to summon into the office, sir?" Admiral: "Bring Sendai and her squadron here, we're going to coordinate this mission along with... the Nagumo Mobile Fleet." Ooyodo: "Ooh!? What would that piece of intel be that made you decide to call upon them!?" Admiral: "You'll hear about it soon." -- Mission Briefing Sendai: "Light cruiser Sendai, heading the Torpedo squadron with destroyers Shigure, Kawakaze, Yuudachi, and Ayanami, reporting in." Choukai: "Heavy cruiser Choukai supporting Sendai's torpedo squadron, reporting in." Akagi: "Akagi, representing the Nagumo Mobile Fleet, reporting in with Kaga, we are of the First Carrier Division." Souryuu: "Souryuu reporting in with Hiryuu, we are of the Second Carrier Division." Admiral: "Good day, ladies. I believe Sendai's division already know of the details, but there's some part I'd like to add to the mission and that will be with your help from the Mobile Fleet." Akagi: "Our help? Admiral, isn't the mission headed towards Vanilla Gulf is supposed to be under Sendai''-san's charge?" '''Admiral:' "I know that. What you will be helping with is supporting airstrikes." Akagi: "Airstrikes?" Admiral: "First Carrier Division, Second Carrier Division. Your mission will be to provide airstrikes from a stand-off range at Vanilla Gulf. The Torpedo Squadron has their hands full dealing with the enemy flagship and the PTs are very tough to defeat, despite being very small - but with that size also comes the sting of a wasp. We need your aircraft to be rid of these. Also, Sendai, what's the current sitrep over there?" Sendai: "So far the transportation missions has been successful, and we managed to deliver the last of supplies to the island there. What we need to do now is deal with that enemy flagship guarding the area..." Kawakaze raises her hand. Kawakaze: "Yo, Admiral, if I may butt in?" Admiral: "Proceed." Kawakaze: '''"Y'know, I've been lookin' at that enemy flagship. I dunno why but she seems kinda familiar... When we skirmished she somehow keeps yappin' things about how nights are scary or sumthin', I seem to recall someone but I dunno who..." '''Admiral: "You mean this image?" (puts on the projector an image of Destroyer Water Demon.) Kawakaze: "Ahh, right there! Yep, that's her all right." Admiral: "Good observation on your part. After doing some background checks with other fellow Admirals, we came to a suspicion. Of course, it's an assumption that we came up with on our own, though the Headquarters seem to go What do you think? while shrugging as we asked for confirmation. Kaga, do you recognize that ribbon in her hands?" Kaga: "That ribbon... is that... mine?" Admiral: "Figures. Do you remember what happened in your past life?" Kaga: "After my demise at that time, I received news that I am to be scuttled..." Admiral: "Okay. Who executed the orders?" Kaga: "It was a destroyer. My memories are faint, I can't-- wait... Hagikaze? Was that her name...?" Admiral: "And there we go. Ladies, this enemy flagship we're looking here, we suspect it to be the shadow of that named vessel here. Hagikaze, or rather, the Abyssal shadow of that ship." Everyone in the room: "!!!!!!!!!" Kaga: "No... no way..." Kawakaze: "Guh... this is givin' me butterflies in my belly...." Akagi: "Hagikaze? Poor girl... raised as a shadow by the Abyss like that." Admiral: "As I checked further on the records, her last sortie involved herself, Arashi, and our two stars here - Shigure and Kawakaze - in which out of an engagement only Shigure survived." Kawakaze: "Urk..." Shigure is also feeling uncomfortable, but the Admiral quickly notices this. Admiral: "... Hah. Forcing ship girls to face their past fears and trauma... one hell of a psychological warfare they are giving us. The Abyss loves scaring people like that, I guess. If mind games is what they want to give us... I say two can play at that." Everyone: "!?" Admiral: "All right. For this operation, the Torpedo squadron will proceed as usual, but this time we're going to punch a hole in that armor. You don't need to be lugging drums around anymore." Sendai: "Aww hell yes." Kawakaze: "Guh, if it's about sticking shells into their faces, I can do that much at least...! Right, one, two. I'm cool now." Admiral: "Good to hear that. How about you, Shigure?" Shigure: "If possible, I want to save her... even if she is a shadow." Admiral: "We're not just going to save her. We're going to RESCUE THE HELL OUT OF HER... oops, excuse me. I'm sorry. I just wanted to lift the mood up a bit. You know, like burning hot." Shigure pauses for a bit, but starts giggling. Sendai: "Trust the Admiral to say strange things like this." Shigure: "I know. I know, but... hehe. Ahahaha... Admiral, thank you." Kawakaze: "Yep! Let's get our shit together and get through this, Sis!" Yuudachi: "Don't forget Yuudachi-''poi''!" Ayanami: "Ayanami will do her best as well!" Choukai: "All calculations are in order. We'll get through this, everyone." Akagi: "Well, I'm in no desire to give it up just because we encountered a shadow of our past." Kaga: "I am not giving up here as well." Souryuu: "We have a lot of stories to tell don't we?" Hiryuu: "You bet." Admiral: "Good. So to make it short for our meeting... Kaga, you are to lead the supporting airstrikes." Kaga: "Me?" Admiral: "Yes. That enemy flagship is going to have one hell of a time when she sees your planes. If they're saying to us 'Sink!', I consider your air power as our reply to them. That will be our big middle finger to them." Kaga: "Sounds like a plan. This is truly exhilirating." Admiral: "All right. Let's do this, everyone. EVERYONE, SORTIE!" And cue to a shot of everyone facing the sea with this background music for some reason: -- ???? - Location Unknown, Time Unknown ????: "Since the last Summer operation ruined our armor system beyond repair, this is all that we could salvage from it. Be careful to not get let the PTs get hit too much, last time it was almost conspicuous everyone who knew of it raided the generators, we had to repair it almost every night until it got broken in the end." ?????: "... I still have a problem." ????: "What would that be?" ?????: "The ship girls' have been more savvy in getting around our defenses and the armor. They actually have enough brute force against this armor. It took me a day to recover my broken arm from one of the engagements..." ????: "Despite everything you said about night battles, you still engage them." ?????: "It's true... that I don't like the night... but... urgh, my head..." -- D-Day - Operation Commence, Final Battle. Destroyer Water Demon: "It's really...the night...? Re...ally....scary...isn't it..?" Admiral: "You know, if ghosts, apparitions and the like; and broken records have something in common, it's that you say the same thing over and over again. Both are equally annoying to hear, you know that?" Sendai and Co. : (You know, Admiral, you really like the habit of trashtalking the enemy don't you...?) Admiral: (Psy-ops, psy-ops! I can't openly support you physically plus someone's gotta be tanking their mind games for you all.) Sendai and Co. : (Yeah, yeah, we're not feeling a thing at all. Good job there, Admiral'-san'.) Destroyer Water Demon: "So you're the Admiral... how rude. Just sink..." Admiral (returns DDWD a thumbs down): "I'd like to see you try coming even an inch closer, you punk with a nice hat." Destroyer Water Demon: "Ahahahaha... such foolishness! SINK NOW!!" Admiral: "Look up and see what's in the sky first, damn it." Hundreds of planes appears from behind Admiral's group. Destroyer Water Demon: "!!!!... Planes...!?" Admiral: "You! Destroyer! Take a good look at the ribbon you're holding. Whose ribbon do you think that is!?" Destroyer Water Demon: "... this ribbon? It's... urg... ahh... AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" Destroyer Water Demon is suddenly hit by an intense headache. Destroyer Water Demon: "AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!! I... I COULDN'T SAVE HER! I WANTED TO! BUT MY ORDERS... MY ORDERS WERE...!!!" Admiral: "Then what if I tell you that those planes belong to that person?" Destroyer Water Demon: "...!!!! AAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!" Admiral: "To sink and to live again, only to become a shadow of your old self! Such a pitiful existence! Now how about a cleansing of fire from the very person you once revered yet was ordered to kill! ALL HANDS, ENGAGE NOW! RETURN TO WHENCE YOU CAME, DEMON!" Destroyer Water Demon: "AAAAAAAAH!!! K, kuuuhhh...!!! Imps, go...!" The imps make their move, however, thanks to the thick airstrike blanket covering the shipgirls front, they were soon overwhelmed by the incoming air attacks. Admiral: "Death by irony! Behold, you Abyssal being, for what you're witnessing is not of what you have seen and felt in the past. IT IS THE NOW! YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A SHADOW OF THE PAST! BEGONE!" Sendai: (Uh, Admiral? That was pretty cheesy. And hammy.) Kawakaze: (I feel like stopping and laughing but I can't afford doing that now. Dangit Admiral you should become a stage performer in plays, that was funny... OUCH! That had to hurt!) Admiral: (Shut up and press on the attacks! We're in the middle of battle! And look at you Kawakaze! That's why I told you to concentrate!) Sendai: (Yes, yes... wait, Admiral? I see something... her hat is cracking.) Admiral: (!!!!) Witnessing the event, the Admiral quickly took action... taking something out from his black briefcase, and moments later in the chaos - there is a sound of a gunshot, but no one knows who made it. Destroyer Water Demon: "AAAAHHH! ... you... YOU!!!" Admiral: (To think that armor was so damaged even a hit from this peashooter took it out... I couldn't have asked for anything better.) Sendai: "It cracked!?" Admiral: "The sun is setting, we're going to finish this off! All hands, pursue them!" -- Night battle Sendai: (Well then... little one, there's no place you can run anymore. Take this.) Sendai's attack takes out the remaining PT boat attempting to make its escape in the darkness of the night. Noticing the burning PT, Kawakaze quickly turns on the searchlight towards its direction. Destroyer Water Demon: "!!!" Sendai: "I see you now... No running away, destroyer." Destroyer Water Demon: "Kh--!! Nothing...nothing can be seen... Go to the bottom!" She attacks, and it hits Kawakaze. Kawakaze: "Gaaaaahhhh!!!" Shigure: "Kawakaze!" Kawakaze: "I-I'm fine, sis... Haahh... Listen up, you demon." Destroyer Water Demon: "!?" Kawakaze: "My light sees for me... Hagikaze. It shines through the darkness." Destroyer Water Demon: "... !!! K-kuh!!" Sendai: "Everyone! Ready your torpedoes!" Choukai: "I can see an opening!" Sendai: "Go!!!" And thus Choukai positions herself for the coup de grace... Destroyer Water Demon: "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Hit by a deadly combination of gunfire and torpedoes, Destroyer Water Demon soon finds herself dead in the water. Unable to move anymore, Destroyer Water Demon soon resigns to her fate. Approaching the now motionless Destroyer Water Demon, the Admiral embraces her in his arms. Destroyer Water Demon: " Despite...sinking in the dark...cold...lonely...painful...southern sea...I... can see... your..." Admiral: "... All which you see is in the past now. Requiescat in pace." And with that, he closes her eyes. Little by little, the now lifeless body of the Destroyer Water Demon starts fading... no, a better description would be that of "purification." The new girl right before them, in Admiral's embrace, slowly opens her eyes. ????: "... I... Where am I?" Admiral: "We've come to pick you up. Do you know what your name is?" ????: "...this voice... that uniform... an Admiral? C... Commander? I... where am I?" Admiral: "You just woke up from some terrible nightmare. Welcome - or should I rather say, welcome back to the realm of living." Kawakaze: "Giddy up, girl. We went all through this trouble just for you." Sendai: "Good grief, I don't know what will happen if we couldn't pull through up to this point. Still, this time we did it rather quickly though." Shigure: "You're safe now... Hagikaze." Hagikaze: "Hagikaze... me? Why do I... ah..." Admiral: "It's a long story... We'll talk plenty of it when we get back to the Naval Base." Hagikaze: "Ah..." Admiral stands up, and stretches his arm out towards the new girl. Admiral: "Let's go back now. We have a lot of stories for you. Also..." Yuudachi: "Looks like we have another one here-''poi''." ?????: "Name's Arashi. So you're the Admiral who came to our rescue... um, nice to meet ya." Admiral: "Hah, this is grand. The Nagumo Mobile Fleet will be happy to see you two. Especially you, Arashi." Arashi: "Eh? Me?" Admiral: "Come along now." And they sail home towards the sunrise... to the tune of... ~ 2015 FALL OPERATIONS - MISSION ACCOMPLISHED ~ -- ???? - Location Unknown, Time Unknown. ?????: "..." ????: "So it's no use this time as well." ?????: "..." ????: "Just when I thought of trying to use it. ... Wait, why the hell are you so quiet!? Say something!" ?????: "Some day... on the blue seas, beneath the blue skies... you will follow my path." ????: "!?" ?????: "Farewell... despite being in darkness for so long, I have finally seen the light. Good bye." ????? vanished from ????'s sight. ????: "Wait! ... K-kuuhhh!! My head! Owww!! Grr... damn you, brat... Huh, will I go there too some day, I wonder... wait, why am I thinking this? ... And my headache somehow went away...?" -- The Hunt for A Certain Foreign Vessel Admiral: "... Great, just great." Ooyodo: "Something that bothers you, Admiral?" Admiral: "Remember back then that after we are finished with the operations we need to review a new piece of information?" Ooyodo: "Yes?" Admiral: "Here's what it is, courtesy of help from Lebe..." Ooyodo: "Let's see... We're to search and rendezvous with... A GERMAN FLEET CARRIER!?" Admiral: "Part of this information is making me scratch my head. I thought in the books Japan and the United States were more well known with their respective fleet carrier doctrines, not even Britain have it thought out better." Ooyodo: "Let's see... Ah, back then, there was a project on their side to incorporate the fleet carrier doctrine into their navy. There was one built using Akagi as a role model for her construction, however her construction wasn't completed. This particular carrier was named..." Admiral: "... Graf Zeppelin, isn't it?" Ooyodo: "Correct. Though... Admiral, where does the intel say we need to find her?" Admiral: "In the... Oh, great." Ooyodo: "The Western areas of the Stevia Sea..." Admiral: "Ooyodo, get the fleet ready, you as well... you're going on full anti-submarine load along with Isuzu. We're going to gear up back into there sailing with full force." Ooyodo: "Roger." The next day, at the Western areas of the Stevia Sea... Submarine Princess: "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!" Battleship Princess: "What is it?" Submarine Princess: "They're coming! THEY'RE COMING AGAIN!" Battleship Princess: "Oh, is that so~" Submarine Princess: "DON'T GIVE ME THAT LACKLUSTER REPLY! HELP ME DAMN IT!!!" Battleship Princess: "Yes, yes~" Submarine Princess: "FASTER YOU BIG HULKING PIECE OF-- OH NO THEY'RE GETTING CLOSE NONONONONONOOOOOO!!!" The situation of Submarine Princess's panic can be best described with this tune as the Admiral's forces approaches their location: -- Roll-call for New Faces Admiral: (... This is quite the number of newcomers. I really don't like the fact that I actually had to send off some of the current recruits into that lodging house, while their leftover equipments were used to modernize the ones in our current inventory. I don't want to admit I'm retiring them from active duty until at a certain time where I can afford to build more dormitory spaces for them. Doing that requires resources of my own, and to be frank, I have no means to afford that right now. Still, it kind of eases my mind that there's such a thing as some sort of a retirement house for the girls. However, having to put them out of duty is still putting a heavy burden of a sense of guilt in my mind. I'm still thankful they have nothing against me when I decided to take them out of active duty. But for things they have done - and those who could've seen even more active roles in the future - I... have to make room so that they may be reinstated some time...) Ooyodo: "Are you all right, Admiral? The new recruits are waiting to hear from you." Admiral: "Oh! I'm sorry. Please excuse me. I spaced out just now, didn't I?" Ooyodo: "Perhaps there are a lot of things that weigh a lot in your mind, Admiral, but you too should take some breaks from time to time. It's important for your mental health." Admiral: "Yes... I do believe I need to settle down a bit after this operation. Nevertheless. Ehem. Sorry for my earlier conduct, recruits. All right, I'm starting the rollcall. Starting from the bottom of this list. Takanami, Kashima, Mikuma, Hagikaze, Hayashimo, Kiyoshimo, Yahagi, Nagato, Shoukaku, Sakawa, Agano, Noshiro, Arashi, Mizuho and Umikaze. Also we have a new personnel transferred from overseas as well: introducing Graf Zeppelin from Germany. Please get along well from now on." Everyone in the list: "Yes!" Admiral: "Regarding ice-breaking, I'll get down to it to each one of you personally. Nothing special, I just want to know who will be working with us for the times to come. You may return to your rooms now." ''-- END --'' (Note: Said ice-breaking to continue in a new chapter after this week.)